Sub choice for new Monitor 50 5.1 system

disco_al

I am almost ready to upgrade my living room set-up to be a 5.1 surround set up, and i am close to deciding on my receiver and speaker choice. I would like some input on the overall choices, and the sub-woofer though:

I currently have a 52" Samsung LCD and a PS3 (fat), plus HD Cable DVR, 1080p DVD Player, DVR/DVD Recorder in my setup.

Due to my room size and other things, i am looking at the following for my 5.1 system: Floorstanding L + R speakers, Centre speaker below the TV, LS + RS on speaker stands behind the sofa, and a nice sub-woofer probably in the front corner.

I had never really heard of Polk before researching these things, but they seem to have great products and plenty of them. After seeing a good price on the now discontinued Monitor 50 speakers, i looked into them. From the polk website spec page, they recommend complimenting Monitor 50s with CS1, Monitor 30 and PSW110. So my setup could be:

2 x Monitor 50 (Floorstanding)
1 x CS1 or 1 x CS10 (Center)?
2 x Monitor 30 (Surround Speakers)
1 x PSW 110 or 1 x PSW505?

So i have two questions: Should i go with the CS10 over the CS1 as the price is about the same and they are nearly identical, or should i stick with the CS1?
Should i get the PSW505 instead of the PSW 110 as it is the same price yet seems much more powerful and gets better reviews?

The sub is the more important factor - will the PSW505 work with the rest of this setup? The CS1 & CS10 have very similar stats so just wondered if it mattered, or if there was a preference for either, for this setup.

The receivers i am considering are (with approx prices and supposed watts per channel):
ONKYO HT-RC260: $349.99 (100w)
ONKYO TX-SR608: $423.63 (100w)
ONKYO TX-NR708: $613.64 (110w)
PIONEER VSX-1020-K: $454.99 (110w)
PIONEER VSX-1120-K: $649.00 (120w)

100w per channel will be enough for my room, and i want 6 HDMI inputs at least, so all of these models have these specs.
My budget is about $1,000, which if i get the Onkyo HT-RC260 is very achievable (I will need two speaker stands for the Monitor 30s in the rear, and some speaker wire). If i step up to a better receiver it will be more but i could probably go to about $1,300 total.

Please get back to me with any advice or recommendations on my potential setup and purchases. I think the speaker set will be quite good, but am curious about switching out the sub and perhaps the center channel.

Thanks in advance for the input!

Strouty

Considering your budget, I might recommend bumping up to Monitor 60s or 70s with the cs2 along with the psw505. I just helped my father in law put together a system with Monitor 70s (series 2), CS2 center (series 2), 2x RC65i in walls and a psw505. The 70s were on sale at newegg for $179 apiece, cs2 was $129 and psw505 was $250. Throw in a pair of monitor 30's for $100 and your HT-RC260 and you're looking at less than $1200.

I have Tsi300's at my fronts (identical to monitor 50s audio-wise) and I'm kicking myself for not getting the monitor 70s. You could also probably save roughly $100 with going with Monitor 60s. With the price of the Monitor series now adays, I don't think there is any reason to go with anything less than 60s (for fronts at least) considerin the audio improvement over the 50s.

To answer your question, I've heard the psw110 and the 505 is a step up and digs noticeably deeper. Even if you still decided upon the Monitor 50's, I'd still go with the 505. A sub is pretty crucial for home theater so you don't want to skimp (I cry every night over my sad little psw10)

Also, I have the cs10 and have listened to the cs1 and couldn't notice any differences. The cs10 belongs with the Tsi line though, so if you go with Monitors, I'd probably stick with either the cs1 (if you go with M50's) or the cs2 (if you go with M60's or M70's)

And you need 6 hdmi inputs? Yikes, what are you hooking up man?

geebolt

+1 on the PSW505

cheif pontiac

+1 on the PSW505, although the e-bay Polk store has been listing DSW 500's

PrazVT

My PSW-505 package is sitting in the leasing office until I get home to pick it up, but I do have the PSW-110. It's a good sub - I honestly don't have any real complaints about it.

In fact, when I was staying w/ my parents, I had a very similar setup in my bedroom - Monitor 50s for FR/FL, CS1 center, the PSW-110, and some Klipsch surround satellites.

The PSW-110 for movies is great - but I'll say it was less powerful than the Logitech Z5500 sub I used to have, though better sounding (my pre-ht era). I took it to a friend's place for new year's since I was in charge of music - and that was probably the first time I ever found it lacking. Playing loud music (dance, 80s, hip hop) was something the 110 couldn't handle - it would bottom out pretty quick. But again, that's at unusually loud volumes. For every day use it 'sounds' great, but for the living room I'd go w/ something a little stronger. ..just my experience.

I had no probs w/ the CS1 center either. Only upgraded when bought the A7s. Poor thing is just sitting around now as the 50s are doing surround work.

Outfitter03

+1 for the PSW-505. I would also like to know what you plan on feeding into 6 HDMI connections?

I have a relatively new system and I would say that one of the biggest sound improvements for music was an older Denon DVD player setup in pure direct mode feeding into Yamaha also in pure direct mode. The DVD player is connected with analog rca connectors. Huge improvement in sound quality for "two channel" listening over using HDMI from PS-3 or a HK DVD player I had.

disco_al

Thanks for all the help. The 505 definitely looks like the better sub option over the 110. I've seen in other forums people mention that Polk does not do great subs, although i fear that these people are those more than happy to spend quite a bit more (double) than what the 505 costs which could be behind their thinking.

I know this is a Polk forum, and many of you have and like the PSW 505 so that gives me confidence if i decide to get it, but does anybody prefer any subs in a similar/slightly higher price range, either Polk or non-Polk? If room size matters, It is a 13 ft Wide by 23 ft long room, with the TV about 12 ft away from the furthest and primary couch (viewing position!).

I will look at the Monitor 60s and 70s as a step up over the 50s, but i may decide to go with the 50s, the 30s and a CS1 in the center. Does anybody out there have this set up? Any thoughts on this set-up for this room size? Or any thoughts on a sub to go with this setup?

Thanks again.

disco_al

Oh and the receiver needs 5 or more HDMI inputs as i currently have:
PS3 (fat),
Time Warner Cable HD DVR,
Philips Upscaling DVD player,
Philips DVD Recorder & HDD,
Digital Video & Still cameras that have the mini-HDMI output (front HDMI port would be great for these!),
Also i expect future purchases (next Nintendo console?) to use HDMI,

So that's 6 HDMI sources right there, which is why i love the concept of the Onkyos (especially the RC260), i'm just worried if they are good enough receivers. Other brands with similar HDMI inputs are more expensive.

Anybody out there use an Onkyo with a Polk speaker set?

cseils

I can't say enough about Onkyo receivers, they deliver a boatload of features and configurability for at great prices. Another thing to note is that their listed power output specs are usually RMS values, where other manufacturers will tend to list the max power output per channel.

I've been using a fairly basic Onkyo 5.1 receiver for several years (HT-R410) and have been very happy happy with it. Now its getting time to upgrade again to add HDMI pass-through and adding binding posts to the receiver.

disco_al

I was wondering if the Onkyo RC260/SR608 offers anything that the Pioneer 1020 does not?

I know the SR608 has PC VGA input but i don't care for that, and for $400 i'd prefer the USB audio playback of the 1020. Do the Onkyo's have any features i'd be missing out on if i go with the 1020 (looking likely!)?

txcoastal1

Keep in mind for the future that the 708 and 1120 have pre-outs

Recently sold my 1020 and bought SC-35 for the preouts when I went to LSIs

txcoastal1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290014&cm_re=polk_monitor-_-82-290-014-_-Product

also,I bought my buddy a pair of these for his rears yesterday....the line is closing out